Age 65-69 | The Graying of AIDS

Sebastian, age 65 / Harare, Zimbabwe

December 3, 2017 by admin

I remember it was about 15 years ago. I was constantly sick and I didn’t know what was wrong with me. When I was hospitalized for the last time, when I was very, very ill, it was a teaching hospital. A group of students surrounded me and they were asked by a senior doctor […]

Categories: Africa, Age 65-69, Male • Tags: advocacy, ageism, burial, caregiving, Caring for Older Adults, children/parenthood, cost of treatment, death/dying, dignity/respect, disclosure, doctor/patient relationship, family, grandchildren, helping others, HIV/AIDS education, HIV/AIDS myths, intergenerational, life experience/age as an asset, married/life partner(s), moving home, pre/post-test counseling, rural health, stigma, stress, support groups, treatment access, Zimbabwe

Bob, age 69 / Warkworth, Canada

December 2, 2016 by admin

HIV is the kind of thing you can’t really understand until you experience it, because remember, in those days we’re talking about, it was a death sentence. And since then, we’ve had to go through this period where, after treatment, suddenly it wasn’t a death sentence. That’s a – I use the expression “mind-fuck,” for […]

Categories: Age 65-69, Male, North America • Tags: ACTIVISM, ageism, Canada, clinical trials, death/dying, dignity/respect, grief/loss, isolation, life experience/age as an asset, long-term survivors, memory/brain health, rural health, stress, treatment access

Ron, age 66/ District of Columbia, USA

December 1, 2016 by admin

I was suicidal when I was thirteen. Because I was gay, or “sissy” as they used to say in those days. I was actually planning how I was gonna do it, and I heard this voice in my head that said, “Don’t do it. Wait ‘til you get older. Things will be different.” I was […]

Categories: Age 65-69, Male, North America • Tags: alternative medicine, AZT/pre-"cocktail" medications, cancer, faith/spirituality, meditation, nutrition, positive outlook, suicide, support groups, thrombosis/blood clot, treatment access, United States

Dave, 68 / California, USA

December 2, 2014 by admin

We got kicked out of our church. We got kicked out of our small group. The pastor was in visiting me when the doctor told me, and he told his wife. And so we ended up having to leave the church, and then about a year later we walked into our small group that we […]

Categories: Age 65-69, Male, North America • Tags: faith/spirituality, helping others, married/life partner, stigma, support, support group, United States

Rodney, age 67 / Melbourne, Australia

December 1, 2014 by admin

I didn’t come out. I didn’t tell anyone. No one knew for 10 years. And I think that’s what helped me. You see, on that day I was told – because this was what you were told in those days – I was told that I could possibly be dead in 5 years, but if […]

Categories: Age 65-69, Asia-Pacific, Male • Tags: Australia, death/dying, disclosure, fear of transmission, grief/loss, pre/post-test counseling, support, treatment adherence

John, age 68 / Coogee, Australia

November 6, 2014 by admin

My partner started to show symptoms of AIDS in 1983, and I talked to my doctor, who said, “Look, this is all happening in the United States. It can’t possibly be.” But in fact it was. So over the next two or three years I worried, but without confirmation. He got very sick at the […]

Categories: Age 65-69, Asia-Pacific, Male • Tags: Australia

Rayford, age 65 / D.C., USA

November 5, 2014 by admin

Categories: Age 65-69, Male, North America • Tags: United States

Ron, age 66 / Washington, D.C., USA

November 2, 2014 by admin

I became openly positive to many of my friends and my family first, and then as I became more comfortable, I started becoming more open to almost everybody I met, including people I wanted to socialize with. And I started finding more people who were also positive, so that made me feel more comfortable. […]

Categories: Age 65-69, Male, North America • Tags: United States

Anna, age 65 / Maryland, USA

November 1, 2014 by admin

Initially, a lot of responses were: are you angry? You know, even my grandson expressed that he was mad. But I wasn’t. I had to accept my own responsibility. Listen, I could have said no. I could’ve closed my legs. I didn’t. So, I wasn’t ever angry with him. I had to be angry with […]

Categories: Age 65-69, Female, North America • Tags: United States